Ask about becoming a Junior Ranger when you visit
other National Parks.

This Junior Ranger book was printed on recycled paper with soy end
vegetoabe inks to help preserve our world resources.

Soy ink contains oil extracted from soybeans. Soy and vegetable inks
are better for our environment than petroleum-based ink because:
1) they produce less air pollution
2) they are easier to remove from paper during recycling
3) soybeans re a renewable resource.

C Y Instead of making poper only from trees, using recycled paper helps
our environment by:
1) saving trees
2) reducing waste in landfills
3) using less energy and water
4) producing less air and water pollution.

When you are finished, you and a ranger will complete this page together.

I

Is
pr

PaQK Ranger

Jun~ur' Pcri9FgEr

I rik P-irnr-
Everglades National Park

L ----^^^ Cn^ :ro

) The Junior Ranger Pledge

a Junior Ranger, I_____
Syotr inae} )
vomise to protect and preserve the plants, ani-
als, and history of the South Florida National
Parks and to keep the air, water, and land clean.
I will share what I have learned about National
Parks with others and will continue to explore
our national treasures.
Stamps; Signatures:

SJurn"o- Ranger

I 'J _^ P.l]-"( Ran e_,"
Big Cypress Natflon
Preserve

Junior Rc.nrer

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1K
PETER
the
Panther

Big Cypress Notional
Preserve

Just follow these directions and you'll be on your way!
Which park are you visiting?
Three of South Florido's prks have joined together on this book.
Each park is represented by the animal mascot shown on this page,
You con earn a Junior Ranger badge at each of the 3 parks and you
can eorn the potch if you visit all three parks.

SComplete The National Park Service activity on page 4.
Choose and complete at least 3 activities for the pork you ore
visiting. Look for the park's mascot at the top of each page.
(Note: Some ct ivites can be done in more than one pork )
3 For each pork you visit, do one activity from the list on Sammy
the Manatee's Activity Page (page 18).
When you are finished, take your book to the visitor center. A
ranger will review your completed activities and give you a badge.

S peeled on your Frog Fun Fa
journey through /Hey Friends
the parks for the wild-
life ond plants on the I'm Flt Frog. Watch
Sri.nvenlqe Hunt B:n0jo for me ad my Fun
page (front cover). Facts throughout
this book /
Try this at .m.--
Look for
thie Iox for Use the journal on
actis yu poge 17 to record
n do at h~ your adventures
in the parks,

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SMangrove Feeding Frenzy
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,awgrass Sleuth

When most people think of the Everglades. they think of wing fields of sawgrass. Have you
ever wondered why it's called saw grass ? Well, find some, took cosely at it and touch it...
JF YOU DARE!

Be careful, sawgrass can
cut youl Read on to learn
how to touh it safely.

GENTLY run your fingers UP the blade
of grass, from the wider part to the
skinny tip. Then VERY slowly start to
move your fingers back down the blade.

Describe how the sawgrass feels:
Now, why do you think it's called sawgrass?

Use the examples below to help you... C R

,K the CO &

E V
D u

ZABCDE
A B (- u

ERLAID(5i
BQFKZCER

QT -ii 74-

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zq2

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Now, take a look at the sawgrass again. Is it
really a grass? Circle the answer below:

5edge

Rush

Grass

- Flat Frog's Fun Fact
Mjjory Stonema n Douglas -
fought to set aside heve
lade as as National Prk. Th
her book she coined the phrse
'A River of Orass because the
water flowskowly through
1 the smwn ss liker a rivW.

"." ... :.....;:- .. ..^..: m p;::,": '

TO

Answer-;
Code:

-TC F T- R

qNTMC

T6NKKNV

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HM S D

FqNTMC

Hammock Hideawa

A hardwood
hamiriac* is a
habitat with
Ilrgher gru-nd
that stoys
dry most
of ihe

Find these endangered and threatened species before they disappear' Search
the hardwood hammock above and circle the species listed below. Look closely.
some are camouflaged. Then color the and their habitat. f -r "

The unused letters in the puzzle spell out a hidden message. After solving the puzzle, the
hidden message will be revealed. Write it below:

Inside the coral polyp are zooxantheltae
(zoo-zan-thel.ee) which are tiny plants that
give coral its color, Like other plants, zoo-
xonthellae harness energy from the sun to
mke their own food. Cora polyps need zoo-
xonthellae to survive and zooxanthellae need
sunlight to Survive, so the sunlight must be
able to penetrate the water.
Name two woys you can help keep the water
clear so sunlight can reach the coral polyps?

maN
Try this at home
Us a toothpck
to hdp guide lh
the strips of red
licoric.
Then mke Iike
a parrotih and
gobble it ul

Porrotfish re
herbivores, animals
that eat plants. They
like to munch on
coral polyps to get to
the zooxanthellae.

SPONGE
SHRIMP
ALGAE
TRASH

S

Read the story
Durrrg your visit to South Florida you decide
to explore one of the unique and almost en-
dangered habitats found here, As you're hiking
along through the pinelands, all of a sudden
you come across a cluster of pine trees whose
trunks are black near the ground and brown up
above. As you come around a bend in the trail
you see that some of the trunks are only black
on one side of the trees. You think to yourself,
"Isn't that strange?" You keep walking, careful
not to trip on the jagged limestone rock

All along the trail, you've been seeing pine
cones, but a few look like someone tossed them
into a campfire, Looking a little closer, you see
that the soil is black, but there are fresh green
shoots of gross poking up The trees here are
also charred at the base of the trunks.
Ok. that's it! It's been at the back of your
mind. but now you're positive. A fire burned
through here! Was it a campfire out of control?
Was it by accident or on purpose?

Fires are good ,
for the pine-
lands because
they renew the
soil. spread new
seeds. and make..
room for new
pJants to grow, .-

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Pinelands Detective

A

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L-F

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Cypress Survival

IMAGINE... you're standing knee-deep in water during most of the year. Your feet
are buried deep below the squishy soil. Millions of tiny aquatic organisms are
swimming around your legs all the time.
Could YOU survive?
I .- I

ic base to help you staed up thrc~gI hwricmw winds

The Bald Cypress tree can!
Unlike most other trees, Bald Cypress trees grow best when standing in water. Like many other
plants and animals that live in the wet swamp, they have developed special adaptations to heJp
them survive this habitat. Adaptations are characteristics that animals and plants use to
survive in their environment.
Look clcsely at the piriir'T. rela'.'. ".\' in read IhE.: not'-.'s to li.r.rr, obcut SCm,? cf the cdonpttion., in
the cyp'es; hhh;t::t. K ;'e these 'r mind ,.r : yrj
Follow the tracks to the next page **n **% **
S***** 9* **4
"a 9 lf ffr f

,a * I the space below, DRAW YOUR OWN plant or animal with special
S* adoptotions to survive in the cypress habitat. AM U

*~b LdLbel your adaptations and describe how they harp your animal or plant.

I44

WIn

Estuary Escape
S Find your way through the estuary re to the offshore island,
Use the word bunk to help you fill in the blanks.
SYou pick it
Y^^e ti ou spot trash nI wd lwee
? r eTc" ion the ry.ace

You "t Pto look at a
nvinatue munching on
swgr=-ads

An ftbr y is a Pw 1 Ie
Water Frt the AoW
MIx~Jes with ____ Waterr
fe the 5Wa.

(ire filter feederims. Not
only do they clean the
bay. they also provide a
hoire for sn1o1 animals.

~o FaIISH "*rmlng the bay
d "tp to rest on one of the
isands tht dot tOw horimmn.

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b.i *1 C ~ U1 f(S r

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N N N N 5

Frog's Fun Facft-
C1d-timaer say
that the flocks
of birds used to
block out the sun,
when they 1lew/
overhead

Plume Hunt

WoOd YO wer a DEAD bird o
yor head?!
Hopefully not, but in the late 1W600
nd early 1900s it was fashionable
for women to wear hats with birds
or feathers on them. It was as
fashronblfe as
is today. Fil in yo faVwFte
fachion trIrM
The difference, though, was in order
to get the feathers or plumes,
people had to shoot the birds. Plme
hunters could make a lot of money
by king the birds with the fancy
feathers. Many of these birds were
in danger of becoming extinct.
Fortunately some people were wor-
ried that these birds might all d'ie
off, so they formed the Adubon
Society. They worked to get taws

Try this at homeJ
To eam more
about feathers for
fashion and how
people helped save
the birds, read the
book Sk a Wa-
AV a Dead BWrd
an m r H d by
Kathryn Lasky. This
book and others
are sold at most
South Florida park
visitor centers.

How many birds did you circle?
Great! That's the number of birds you've seen on your visit.

Now, multiply that number by 10; (or add up the
"10s" inside the birds you circled) That's how many birds you
would have seen if you were here in the early 1800si Scientists
tell us that 90% of the wading birds hve since disappeared.

How long did it take you to see this many birds?

"I-. *"

.Li~L
U Ui
~~

Ab- :
'\ ;

~c ~i
-4
5~' s''i
li"T ~
~4
i:? Lf~
It
~~ ~ic

passed to protect the birds and
their population returned to what it
was before the hiuning began

In the late 1940s. peopJt started
draining the sbW mpand in order to
bwud new homes and create farm-
land. That changed the birds' habi-
tat and again their populations began
to dechine. 5ome of the wading birds
were ogin in danger of disappear-
ing forever, In 1994 the Evergykdes
Forever Act become a law to protect
these birds and their habitaTs. To-
day. scientists are trying to restore
the health of Sroth Florido's eco-
system with the hope that bird and
other animal and pont populations
wiHl increase again.

tr Following the Water 6

lat Frogs Fun First, find the the two main watersheds for
Flt~ F S 5outh Florida on the map, A watershed is an
An aqurfer is an undegro ud area of land that collects water from rainfall
lake tnea the rock and *
soil. The limestone rock is full J akes, ad rivers.
SWater seeps down through / Now, CONNEC THE DOTS to see how the
of hales, like Swiss ceese. C

the hoi s. This water is South Florida parks fit into the watersheds.
m. pped out and used for ,/ Follow A-U and 1-6 to make the porks'
--ur drinking water.---' boundaries.

And where does the
water 90? O
Some water soaks into the
ground and trickles down
to the aquifer, while some
water stays on the surface..
and flows downstream
through the watershed.
Into which bodies of N
water do these watersheds
drain? (The arrows on the ol
map point where the water
flows.) Everalades